GPS BUSINESS NEWS

Pioneer & Garmin Settle IP Litigation

Ludovic Privat — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 17:52:00 +0100

Pioneer announced today that they have reached a settlement agreement with Garmin in their patent litigation. Pioneer had sued Garmin in the German District Court of Dusseldorf in October 2009 and the U.S. International Trade Commission in November 2009 (read here).

In the settlement agreement, Pioneer grants Garmin the right t...

1m Containers to Be GPS-Tracked by 2016

Ludovic Privat — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 14:29:00 +0100

The number of active remote container tracking units deployed on intermodal shipping containers is expected to reach 1.0 million by 2016, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 66.9 percent, according to a new report from Swedish market research firm Berg Insight. This market represented only 77,000 unit in the last quarter of...

STMicro 3-Axis Gyroscope Gets Automotive Certification

Ludovic Privat — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 12:28:00 +0100

Leading MEMS vendor STMicroelectronics has introduced a new 3-axis digital gyroscope that meets the stringent requirements of AEC-Q100, an industry-standard qualification for automotive integrated circuits.

Established by the Automotive Electronics Council (AEC), AEC Q100 details a set of stress tests and defines the qualification requirement...

NNG Intros Dashboard Platform for Automotive Apps

Ludovic Privat — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 17:54:00 +0100

In collaboration with the Budapest University of Technology, navigation solution provider NNG has completed a 2-year-long EU-funded research project enabling the development of applications connected to its iGo navigation engine.

Running on the Android operating system, the platform allows for additional functionalities to be added to the iG...

Location-Based Ad Campaigns Flourishing in South Africa

Ludovic Privat — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 11:13:00 +0100

When it comes to location-based mobile advertising South Africa is not much talked about. However there are several recent campaigns that worth global recognition. Business Positioning Systems, a Johannesburg-based marketing consultancy has recently helped leading local fast food restaurant chain Steers and well known fuel vendor BP to...

TomTom Enters Insurance Telematics Market in the UK

Ludovic Privat — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 08:50:00 +0100

TomTom today announced its first customer in the telematics insurance market. United Kingdom-based insurance broker Motaquote will use TomTom technology for Fair Pay Insurance, a product that rewards good drivers with lower premiums.

“Our entry in the insurance market with our proven fleet management technology puts us at the forefront of...

Speedcam Warning Vendor Coyote Hits 1.5m Paying Users

Ludovic Privat — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 17:52:00 +0100

Speedcam warning vendor Coyote System has announced today to have reached 1.5 million paying users in its driver community.

Members of the Coyote community exchange alerts about speedcam locations, road hazards and road congestions.

Users are spread across various platforms: dedicated devices, mobile applications and partner devices (PND...

Harman: Infotainment Business Up 20%

Ludovic Privat — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 16:30:00 +0100

Harman International Industries has released today its financial earnings for the second quarter of their fiscal year 2012 (ended December 31, 2011). In its infotainment division the tier one automotive supplier posted revenue of $600 million, up 20 percent against the same quarter last year. The operating margin in this division was 8.3...

Persistent Systems Acquires Openwave’s Location Business

Ludovic Privat — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 13:10:00 +0100

Last week, Persistent Systems, a company that specializes in software development outsourcing, announced the acquisition of the location business from Openwave Systems. The financials of the transaction were not disclosed.

Openwave’s location business unit was providing commercial and emergency (E911/E-112) location-based service...

Smartphones Outsell PC & Tablet Sales Combined, Represent Almost 1/3 of Handsets Sold

Ludovic Privat — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 18:35:00 +0100

The number of smartphones sold worldwide in 2011 has outnumbered the number of PCs and tablets, said market research firm Canalys in a research released last week. According to the British firm, 487.7 million smartphones were sold in 2011 against 414.6 million client PCs (encompassing desktops, notebook, netbooks and tablets/pads)....

NPD: Apple Captured 43% of U.S. Smartphone Market in Q4

Ludovic Privat — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 18:11:00 +0100

Based on research from The NPD Group, Apple became the best-selling U.S. handset brand in the fourth quarter of 2011, the iPhones outnumbering sales of competitors Samsung and LG. In a quarter that featured the launch of the iPhone 4S and the addition of Sprint as wireless carrier, Apple’s three available models combined have captured 43...

Frost & Sullivan Foresees Revenue Opportunity in Automotive Apps

Ludovic Privat — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 17:38:00 +0100

According to a new report by Frost & Sullivan, there is a revenue opportunity for vehicle manufacturers to deliver applications to their customers if they can develop the right eco-system.

According to the report, “Smartphone interface technologies such as Ford SYNC Applink, Nokia MirrorLink and several other concepts have given VMs th...

Mapquest Embeds Road Traffic Cameras in U.S. Map

Ludovic Privat — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 11:16:00 +0100

MapQuest last week announced it integrated traffic and road condition cameras into their maps and directions in over 100 U.S. markets, featuring more than 11,000 cameras. These camera feeds are coming from traffic provider INRIX which distributes the service from traffic camera aggregator Vizzion. To date Google Maps is not offering this kind o...

Panasonic, Nikon Ship New GPS-Enabled Cameras

Ludovic Privat — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 22:23:00 +0100

This week Panasonic and Nikon have both announced new digital cameras featuring built-in GPS capabilities.

Panasonic has announced the LUMIX ZS20 ($350), a slim Digital Camera with a 20x optical zoom lens.

Map data can be installed onto the LUMIX ZS20 via a bundled DVD, giving the camera detailed worldwide maps of 82 countries/regions on...

Andrew Nash, Mediamobile: “Traffic Differentiation Not About How Many Countries You Cover, But Quality You Provide“

Ludovic Privat — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 18:28:00 +0100

GPS Business News Interviewed today with Andrew Nash, Automotive director at Mediamobile, the Paris-based traffic service provider, subsidiary of the broadcast group TDF, that provides services to France, Nordics countries and Poland. In this interview we discussed the new landscape of traffic services providers in Europe after the...